GutterTalk

96: Patrick Yurick (ComicFuel 2) – MakingComics.com Gutter Talk Podcast

Holy MOLY, what a whirlwind of amazingness it has been in the time between the release of episode 1 of Comic Fuel and Episode 2! We have had a thousand people download and listen to the episode and I have enough questions that I have to wait for another four episodes before I can put out another call for questions. Wow.

In this episode, episode 2, we’ll discuss project management, the comic creation process, coloring comics, penciling comics, and hosting comics online. The questions came from places like Ireland, India, Brazil, California, and Indiana. For legit #comicfuel we’ll hear about why we do art from Stephen McCranie, transitioning into fame and what is at the core of what artistry is really about from “How I Met Your Mother” actor Josh Radnor, and we’ll also hear about the art of really listening by famed audio producer Chris Watson.

Questions answered in this episode (jump-to specific question times listed below)

  • How many pages should a comic issue be to be printed?
  • How long would it take to make a comic by yourself; scripting, storyboarding, art and lettering; and self publish it?
  • How do you keep up momentum on making comics?
  • How long does it take for a comic book artist to make a comic book?
  • What is the step-by-step process I should go through to choose colors that will look good?
  • What kind of colors can i use?
  • Am I just not being patient enough with myself, or am I trying to fit too much, too zoomed out, into one panel?
  • What websites are best for starting to post a webcomic?

Another big announcement is that I spent a lot of time this month creating the Comic Fuel Podcast Wiki (http://comicfuel.wikidot.com/) which will serve as a repository for all questions, notes, and links that are mentioned in the show. Check it out. It took me FOREVER to make, but I’m really proud of it.

The show notes for Episode 2 are at: http://comicfuel.wikidot.com/wiki:episode-2

Ep2

Jump times to go to different parts of the podcast:

  • (00:00) Show Opener
  • (00:44) Show Introduction
  • (06:43) #ComicFuel Break #1: Chris Watson on The Art of Listening
  • (14:25) Question 1: Project Management

Question 1 from Kevin in Eire: How do you keep up momentum on making comics? I make a lot of progress when i take a class or a mooc, but when it’s over I feel a bit like OK where to next?

  • (22:55) #ComicFuel Break #2: Stephen McCranie Asking Why We Do Art
  • (31:55) Questions 2, 3, & 4: Comic Creation Process Overview

Question 2 from Anjali in Bangalore, India: How long would it take to make a comic by yourself; scripting, storyboarding, art and lettering; and self publish it?
Question 3 from Nate in Brazil: As an independent artist who primarily works with digital comics, I’m interested in publishing my material, but I’m afraid the format won’t translate as well, and I’ll need to cut many pages from chapters so it could fit into what the market deems ideal for print. How many pages should a comic issue be to be printed?
Question 5 from Andrew: How long does it take for a comic book artist to make a comic book?

  • (40:40) #ComicFuel Break #3: Josh Radnor Talking About Transitioning as an Artist
  • (44:30) Questions 5 & 6: Coloring

Question 5 from Alan: If I have an uncolored comic page, what is the step-by-step process I should go through to choose colors that will look good?
Question 6 from Anonymous: I am not professional in using coloring applications like photoshop and gimp If i ‘d like to do it manually, what is your advice to me, what is kind of colors can i use?

  • (51:13) Patreon Ad: Spotlight on Scott Bachman
  • (53:58) Question 7: Penciling

Kiana, Indiana: So, I adore sketching pretty much everything, It’s what I spend the majority of my time doing! Although, when I attempted to begin penciling my comic, I found it to be tedious and frustrating? It seems that whatever I try to draw ends up too small to look nice or have any detail. Am I just not being patient enough with myself, or am I trying to fit too much, too zoomed out, into one panel?

  • (1:02) How You Can Help Comic Fuel
  • (1:04:40) Question 8: Hosting a Comic Online

Question 8 from Julia in California: What websites are best for starting to post a webcomic?

  • (1:19:05) Show Outro

Media Used:

Intro & Outro Songs:
Unexpected Hoedown In Bagging Area” by Dr. Turtle, used under CC BY / Desaturated from original

#ComicFuel Segment #1
The Kid In The Bins” by Dr. Turtle, used under CC BY / Desaturated from original
Chris Watson interview – The Art of Listening by SNYK RADIO is licensed under a Creative Commons License.

#ComicFuel Segment #2
Dry Run Well” by Dr. Turtle, used under CC BY / Desaturated from original
Stephen McCranie Interview Gutter Talk Ep. 64 is owned by MakingComics.com

Patreon Info Segment:
Story To Fall Through” by Dr. Turtle, used under CC BY / Desaturated from original

#ComicFuel Segment #2
Dry Run Well” by Dr. Turtle, used under CC BY / Desaturated from original
JOSH RADNOR discusses art, film, TV, happiness, and knocking heads with the Dalai Lama. by EMPLOYEE of the MONTH is licensed under a Creative Commons License.

makingcomics.com

17 Responses to “96: Patrick Yurick (ComicFuel 2) – MakingComics.com Gutter Talk Podcast”

  1. Akshay Dhar

    Great work guys – I enjoyed the hell out of this show and just got this latest in my email and am listening to is as I type.
    I’m really enjoying this podcast a lot and as an indie-comic wannabe out of New Delhi, India, there’s so much that’s helpful and genuinely connects with the work my friends and I are trying to learn.
    In a future episode I would like to pose a potential question to you:
    What could be ways by which non-American english language comics could make their way into the American and European market – currently I have only been able to do it through a service like drivethrucomics because they are more flexible than (for eg) a comixology. We have no existing distribution system or means to get into yours (diamond), would there or should there be some way to get the attention of people who work in comics if you are not (for eg) making a webcomic that they might chance upon – or should we just do what we do and have patience?
    Keep up the great work folks, looking forward to all your upcoming episodes!
    Cheers!

    Reply
  2. Virginia

    Thanks for the info on Comic Press, Manga Press, Comic Easel and Webcomic. I haven’t heard of them. Thanks also for these podcasts.

    Reply
  3. Egypt Urnash

    Hooray for track back alerts.

    Some general color strategies you could use:

    * just color stuff with the naive color they “are”, then throw a few layers on top. A multiply layer to draw shadows with, all the same color. Usually blue. A screen layer to draw highlights with, all the same color. Usually yellow. A solid color layer to tint the overall tone of the panel, possibly one to desaturate it if you’re on a gloomy day. This can get you a long way without really having to think about color. Shading everything with the same color really unifies a page.

    * do things look unclear? Desaturate, put a layer at the top of your stack full of solid black and set it to “saturation” mode. Now you can see it as greyscale. Adjust colors on things so you don’t have two things that map to the same grey level next to each other, turn off the desaturation level, things should look a lot better.

    * limited color. Pick 3-6 colors that look good together and create a mood. You can use sites like colorlovers for this, you can use books like Color Index or Designer’s Guide To Color 5 (I’ve gone through multiple copies of those, I especially love DGTC5 because it groups by moods), eventually you get to a point where you can pick them off the top of your head. Now draw EVERYTHING with those colors. Even if they’re not “supposed” to be that color. I love doing this; in “Five Glasses of Absinthe” I limit myself to 2-3 colors per page, and change them through the story based on the mood I want, the location, the time of day, or which character is controlling the narrative. Use these colors at varying opacities and in different blending modes to make things richer, everything will stay related.

    * even more limited color. What if the whole thing is in B&W with a spot color dropped in to signify important things? Frank Miller does this brilliantly in some of the “Sin City” stories. I’ve stolen this from him shamelessly for very different upcoming projects. Works with lusher greyscale plus a spot color, too.

    * symbolic uses. In “Decrypting Rita” I use very limited palettes – white, a midtone, and a dark color, surrounded by black gutters. There are multiple worlds in the story, each with its own pair of colors. This lets the reader quickly say “oh this is a green panel, it’s from the sky pirates world”. It’s similar to the trick I mentioned stealing from Miller.

    * Desaturate. It’s tempting to make every color super saturated. Don’t. Pull back on that, grey things out a little. That way when you want something to pop out and be super-noticeable, you can make it really saturated and colorful.

    Oh yeah: DELETE YOUR DEFAULT COLOR SWATCHES. I find it’s super easy to just go “derp grass is green” and grab the most lurid green in the world if I have a bunch of default swatches. If I have to decide just what green I want then I’ll actually think about it and how it fits with the rest of the image. If I want a super intense glowing green for the grass that’s a perfectly valid decision, but I want to have MADE it rather than just picked the first thing that my brain registered as “green”.

    Reply
    • Patrick

      Egypt – you rock. I am totally adding this to the wiki. Thanks for being you. -P

      Reply
  4. Anjali

    HahaxD That pronunciation of my name made me laugh WAY too hard. You pronounce it “un-jelly”. Hah.

    Anyway, that answer was very helpful! Thanks!

    Reply

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